ESS Technologies, Inc. and Xyntek-Antares have partnered to develop a track & trace case packing solution that allows pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to automate the case packing process, as well as provide unit serialization and track & trace technology for all of the products being case packed.

The new ESS Technologies TaskMate Robotic Case Erector/Loader will be integrated with the Xyntek-Antares Turn-key Serialization solution, which features the Antares Tracking System software and the Omnivision 360 degree Bottle Tracking System for serialization and aggregation, creating an automated case erector loader with integrated track & trace capability.

The solution will be demonstrated in booth #3188 at Interphex at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City on April 23-25.

"At Xyntek, we strive to continuously add to our world-class product lines and turn-key solutions for our customers, as is evident with the addition and the launch of the ESS Technologies TaskMate Robotic Case Erector/ Loader. We are excited to see our customers at Interphex this year and unveil this new product through ESS Technologies," says Mac Hashemian, P.E., president & chief executive officer at Xyntek, Inc.

Kevin Browne, President of ESS Technologies, Inc. added, "We welcomed the opportunity to partner with Xyntek-Antares to showcase a straight-forward and simple approach to integrating track & trace systems with automated packaging machinery. We've seen an increase in requests for this type of equipment, and we wanted to show customers and Interphex attendees a real-world solution."

The TaskMate Robotic Case Erecting and Loading System integrates a FANUC LR Mate 200iC/5L multi-axis robot with ESS-designed end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) to create a compact and low-cost case packing system. Other FANUC robot models may be specified, depending on the required payload.

Vacuum cups on the special robot EOAT pick an RSC case blank from a magazine. The case is erected, the bottom is taped closed, and the case is placed in the loading position. For the Interphex NY demonstration, bottles will be fed to the robotic cell via a conveyor. The Xyntek-Antares Omnivision 360 degree Bottle Tracking System will read the unique serial number on the labeled bottle and aggregate it to a "dummy" code on the bottom of the bottle. This aggregation will enable a 100% verification of the bottles as they are packed by the TaskMate Robotic Case Erector into the case.

After the bottles leave the Xyntek-Antares Omnivision 360 degree Bottle Tracking System, they are collated into a 4x3 pack pattern. The robot will then pick the entire pack pattern and load it into the case. Right before placing the bottles in the case, an integrated Cognex high-resolution smart camera will read all of the bottom codes of the bottle bundle as they are being packed into the case by the robot. The Xyntek-Antares Tracking System software will confirm the unique serial numbers based on the pack pattern and print a case label to complete the bottle to case aggregation.

The robot EOAT then pushes the loaded case onto an exit conveyor; the case may be sealed manually, or secondary-closing systems can be integrated. The system will handle up to 5 cases per minute, providing an automated alternative to manual case packing processes. The custom designed EOAT can be configured to handle a wide variety of products. The system is also ideally suited for integration with track and trace applications.